Safety guard for dangerous highways and the like



Jan. l 1927.

8 H. c. LooKABAuGH SAFETY GUARD FOR DANGEROUS HIGHWAYS AND THE LIKEFiled August 3l, 1925 ///v //o n -HHH M, QM N ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY C. LOOKABAUGH, 0F WATONGA, OKLAHOMA.

SAFETY GUARD FOR DANGEROUS HIGHWAYS AND THE LIKE.

My invention pertains to safety guards for dangerous highways, and thelike.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed, which will be cheaply, easily and economically made,comparatively easily installed, provide entire safety to travelers upand down mountainous roads, and around dangerous curves thereon, and onother roads, prevent automobiles and other vehicles from u oing over theembankments, and automatically turnthe wheels of said automobiles andother vehicles back into the highway from the course to which they havestarted towards the precipices.

The invention, novel features, details of construction, combination ofparts, and other objects of the invention, will be hereinafter moreparticularly set forth, illustrated in the accompanying one sheetdrawing, and pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is hereby made to the drawing forming a part of thisapplication, of which,

There is shown a perspective View of the device partially in section,showing the manner of installing and of contacting the car wheel withthe safety guard.

Similar characters designate all like parts.

The device consists of a metallic guard 18, placed along the outer edge,or other dangerous location, of a highway for automobiles, or othervehicles. It would preferably be expected to parallel the roadway. Theguard 18 principally consists of an upright portion extending downwardlyfrom its top 15 to the upper portion of a curve 14 near its bottom. Thelower portion thereof is curved inwardly at 14 towards the road-bed to apoint 13 where it reaches the roadbed. The guard is intended to beapplied to all kinds of roadbeds, including rock, concrete, brick,asphalt, and the like. A metallic anchor is securely imbedded under saidroadbed, as shown at- 4, 5, 6 and 7 ln the concrete or other formation3. The

angest dimension of the anchor 4 is preferably' parallel with thesurface of the roadbed 1; the lowest portion 5 1s a prong eX- tendingdownwardly and outwardly below said horizontal portion; at the outermostpoint of the anchor the horizontal portion 4 and the inclined portion 7are securely fastened by a bolt 11 and a nut 10, or other securingmeans. The inclined metallic arm 7 rises at approximately 45 to thepoint 12 a short distance below the top 15 of said guard 18, where, atpoint 12 it is turneddownwardly and the downwardly extending portion 6is securely fastened to said parallel portion 4 by bolt 9 and nut 8, orother securing means. The vertical or upright portion 6 issecurelyfastened to the guard 18 by bolts 19 and nuts 20, or othersecuring means. The inclined arm 7 and the vertical member 6 togetherconstitute a brace for holding the upright guard firmly in place. Theseanchors are placed at such intervals along the guard and roadway as,with the general curve of the guard, the concave curve 13 and the formof the wheel at contacting point 17, to be sufficiently strong toprotect the guard from allowin any vehicle from pushing or bending 't eguard over. It will also be seen by those familiar with the art to whichmy invention pertains that the principal force of an impact of anautomobile or other vehicle against the guard will come primarily on theanchor near its top 12, lthe force of the impact would then betransferred along the inclined member 7 to 10 and along the horizontalportion 4 and to the lower end of the prong,

or shank 5, requiring a tremendous pressure to turn or override theanchor. The curve of the guard 18 and the inwardly curved portion at thebottom thereof beginning at 13 near the roadbed and ending at 14thereabove automatically act to turn the wheels of the automobile 16back into the highway proper whlm the wheel strikes the curved portionat the bottom of the guard 18 at point of contact 17. It will beunderstood the guard 18 will be sutliciently low so as to prevent thehub of the wheel of the automobile from striking the guard and veeringthe automobile towards the guard, and wrecking the car or overriding theguard, and also preventing the wheel of the car from contacting thecurve 13 at point of contact 17 so as to turn the wheel and car backinto the highway proper. The force of the movement of the car andthe-slant of the curves 18 and 14 and the curve of the guard 18 have theeffect on the wheel of contacting the guard to immediately throw the carback into the highway, proper.

It will also be understood that the substantially built portion of theroadbed will be extended beyond the guard, and the guardanchor, tosufiiciently protect the anchor where it extends downwardly andoutwardly from point l2 to l0.

From the description of the one sheet accompanying drawing and thespecifications,

r the advantages' of the making, constructing, applying and operatingofthe guard will be apparent to those skilled in the art to whichmyinvention pertains; but it will be understood that any modilicationswithin the scope of the claimed invention may be made in theconstruction, operation and application without departing from theprinciple of the invention, or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention,

what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

l. A safety road guard embodying a longitudinally curved upright memberhaving its lower edge curved toward the road bed, a metallic anchor forembedment in the road bed, and an angular brace attached to said uprightand to said anchor.

2. A safety road guard embodying a longitudinally curved upright memberhaving its lower edge curved toward the road bed, a metallic anchor forembedment in the road bed, and an angular brace attached eo said uprightand to said anchor, said lower curved edge being adapted to rest uponthe road bed and the attachment of said niember to the brace being rigidand non-resilient.

HARRY C. LOOKABAUGH.

